Gaming Tactics and Product Recommendations

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Category Archives: Games

Bastion. Bastion is a game with beautiful art and music. Each realm is hand painted and crafted to artistic perfection. The gameplay is refreshing, and every new weapon and ability is exciting to mix into your gameplay. The plot isn’t bad either, pay attention and it pays off in the end.

Limbo. Limbo is kind of a spooky game. The game designers went with a relatively minimalistic art style, which they claimed helps the gamer focus on the gameplay. It is a puzzle platform game, with your typical up down right left two dimensional controls.

Don’t Starve: Reign of Giants. An action-adventure video game with elements of stealth and survival. Keep Wilson alive as he stays himself from getting eaten by a variety of supernatural beasts. And trust me, there are like a billion ways to die in this game. It actually is one of the defining elements of Don’t Starve, it makes dying more fun.

Plague Inc. Welcome to the business of deadly pathogens. You as the player create a nasty pathogen to take out the rest of the world. The game is essentially an epidemic simulator. This game has over 25 million players so there’s something to be said for that.

Braid. Braid is another platform puzzle game. Seeing a trend here? The cool spin in Braid is that you have time control capabilities. This game long last became the highest reviewed game on xBox live. You’ll need to stomp through 6 worlds that each contain their own time warping mechanics.

Faster Than Light. Faster than Light (FTL) is a real time strategy game with a top down view. You control one spacecraft in a get away type scenario and guide it through numerous sectors of space. You must clear the way past hostile forces and hold on for dear life. Subset 7. Games the developer got stuck part way through development of the game because of lack of finances. They turned to Kickstarter and received 20 times more than their initial goal.

Machinarium. This is a quirky and fun indie game.. but you’ll need to enjoy the adventure genre to truly get your money’s worth. It has many brain teasers throughout and without a guide you could get stuck from time to time. The rewarding part is when you do get it right, you get to unlock another beautiful part of the game.

Super Meat Boy. This puzzle game is ruthlessly unforgiving. Retro artwork and smashing music compliment this fast paced platformer. Also the controls are wonderfully precise, but this also makes for challenging levels as you have to sneak through some tight spots. As Meatboy, your mission is to rescue Bandage Girl. Easier said than done.

The Binding of Isaac. This game falls more under the category of dungeon crawler. The plot line is lined with some Biblical elements, which can be quite humorous when examined from the right perspective. You fight through 9 floors culminating in a battle against Satan himself.

Streaming has become all the rage these days and its been said more people are tuning into streams than some television channels or sporting events like major league baseball games. Some people think it’s bad for gaming for whatever reasons but I think it’s a great way to get gaming more mainstream. Also, people that get really good at certain games finally have a way to monetize their skill. Just like a hobbyist woodworker that starts building furniture for people, a gamer can share their skills and knowledge with other people. Sure there’s always the trolls and goof balls on Twitch chats but it can provide entertainment outside of the viewing experience. I’d also counter where are there not trolls on the internet? In the end I still like the chat box because it’s a way the streamer can interact with their audience. Isn’t that what we want popular people in our niche’s to be? More human and easier to communicate with and ask questions. A lot of sports stars seem larger than life but really they are just another one of us. I think streaming on Twitch gives a great look into the personality and lives of eSports stars and other popular personalities.

If you are interested in streaming, there is a lot of software out there that can get you started. I’d suggest OBS just because it is opensource and pretty intuitive as well. I think the best way to get started is commit to a schedule, interact with your viewers, be good at your game, have a good gaming rig, have a good gaming setup, and have a good Twitch profile and page so people can learn about you. I think supplementing this with a social media strategy will get you going on the right foot. Also, so many times I see streamers with webcams set up and the area behind them is a mess. Try and stay somewhat professional and don’t let their be distractions for your viewers.